Miles Vorkosigan makes his debut in this frenetic coming-of-age tale. At age 17, Miles is allowed to take the entrance exams to the elite military academy; he passes the written but manages, through miscalculation in a moment of anger, to break both his legs on the obstacle course, washing out before he begins. His aged grandfather dies in his sleep shortly after, for which Miles blames himself.

One of the best stories in the series

Would you consider the audio edition of The Warrior's Apprentice to be better than the print version?

No, but good

What was one of the most memorable moments of The Warrior's Apprentice?

Mourning Sergeant Bothari

Which character – as performed by Grover Gardner – was your favorite?

Miles or Bothari. They belong together.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would be the tag line be?

And so it begins.

Any additional comments?

The Vor Game

A Miles Vorkosigan Novel

By:
Lois McMaster Bujold

Narrated by:
Grover Gardner

Length: 11 hrs and 1 min

Unabridged

Overall

4.5 out of 5 stars
2,690

Performance

4.5 out of 5 stars
1,723

Story

4.5 out of 5 stars
1,732

Miles Vorkosigan graduates from the Barrayaran Military Academy with high expectations of ship command, but is disappointed with an assignment as meteorologist to Lazkowski Base, an arctic training camp. His tenure in the windy, snow-covered north is cut short when Miles narrowly averts a massacre between the trigger-happy base commander and mutinous recruits. After a brief stay under 'house arrest', Miles is re-assigned to investigate a suspicious military build-up near a wormhole nexus.

Very good, especially the arctic section

Would you consider the audio edition of The Vor Game to be better than the print version?

No

What was one of the most memorable moments of The Vor Game?

The stand off at the arctic base

Have you listened to any of Grover Gardner’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

Yes. Very well.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

A few

Any additional comments?

A good start too his career

World War Z: The Complete Edition (Movie Tie-in Edition)

An Oral History of the Zombie War

By:
Max Brooks

Narrated by:
Max Brooks,
Alan Alda,
John Turturro,
and others

Length: 12 hrs and 9 mins

Abridged

Overall

4.5 out of 5 stars
12,411

Performance

5 out of 5 stars
11,596

Story

4.5 out of 5 stars
11,594

World War Z: The Complete Edition is a new recording of Max Brooks’ best-selling novel,
World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War, featuring 21 additional Hollywood A-list actors and sci-fi fan favorites performing stories not included in the original edition. New narrators include Academy Award-winning director Martin Scorsese,
Spiderman star Alfred Molina,
The Walking Dead creator Frank Darabont, rapper Common, Firefly star Nathan Fillion,
Shaun of the Dead’s Simon Pegg, and members of the casts of
Star Trek, Battlestar Galactica, Heroes and more!

With missing section restored, Now it's great

Overall

5 out of 5 stars

Performance

4 out of 5 stars

Story

4 out of 5 stars

Reviewed: 05-17-13

After restoring the missing section in Chapter 3, now it's a coherent whole. Thanks for working with the publisher to fix a 4 minute gap, which while obviously an easy thing to do, had me worried for a while that it wouldn't be done in the short term. This relatively rapid response is much appreciated.

I think Studs Terkel would be proud. The various performers' interpretation of the text made the messages from the witnesses much more varied, both in voice and in the message. This makes it feel more like independent witnesses than in the original texts, and the emotion in some of the performances was much more moving. Some of the standouts for me included the K9 trainer, the feral young lady being treated and acting out the incident that orphaned her around age 4, Sinclair as acted by Alan Aldo, the performance of Redecker, and the Chinese submariner.

45 of 52 people found this review helpful

Berserker's Planet

By:
Fred Saberhagen

Narrated by:
Lloyd James

Length: 6 hrs and 24 mins

Unabridged

Overall

3.5 out of 5 stars
74

Performance

4 out of 5 stars
24

Story

4 out of 5 stars
25

Five hundred years have passed since the combined fleets of humanity met and broke the berserker armada at Stone Place. But though the human victory was total, one of the killer machines (weaponless, its star drive a ruin) managed to limp to a secret sanctuary on a planet called Hunter's World. Over the years, a new cult has arisen there, a cult dedicated to Death as the only and ultimate Good.

Comparable to the original reading of the book

What made the experience of listening to Berserker's Planet the most enjoyable?

The narrator. He was also good in The Moon is a Harsh Mistress and Double Star by Hienlien

What was one of the most memorable moments of Berserker's Planet?

The first duels, as well as the Berserker God climbing the knoll that the spaceship was on

What about Lloyd James’s performance did you like?

The emotion he brings to the reading.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

When the Magnate was mentally dominated and shamed by the controlling Berserker

Friday

By:
Robert A. Heinlein

Narrated by:
Hillary Huber

Length: 13 hrs and 51 mins

Unabridged

Overall

4.5 out of 5 stars
989

Performance

4.5 out of 5 stars
795

Story

4.5 out of 5 stars
800

Friday, a secret courier, is thrown into an assignment under the command of her employer, a man she knows only as "Boss." She operates from and over a near-future Earth in North America, a vulgar and chaotic land comprised of dozens of independent states. In America's disunion, Friday keeps her balance nimbly with quick, expeditious solutions as she conquers one calamity and scrape after another.

Enthusiastic narrator, but mispronounced words

If you’ve listened to books by Robert A. Heinlein before, how does this one compare?

Average story, better than average performance

Have you listened to any of Hillary Huber’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

First time

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

Baldwin's demise and the conclusion.

Any additional comments?

Somewhat preachy, but several honest and caring scenes. The viewpoint is different from many of his books.

Logan's Run

By:
William F. Nolan,
George Clayton Johnson

Narrated by:
Oliver Wyman

Length: 5 hrs and 28 mins

Unabridged

Overall

4 out of 5 stars
575

Performance

4 out of 5 stars
520

Story

4 out of 5 stars
526

It's the 23rd Century and at age 21... your life is over! Logan-6 has been trained to kill; born and bred from conception to be the best of the best. But his time is short and before his life ends he's got one final mission: Find and destroy Sanctuary, a fabled haven for those that chose to defy the system. But when Logan meets and falls in love with Jessica, he begins to question the very system he swore to protect and soon they're both running for their lives.

Goss rendition of an excellent book

The story and the faithful way that the narrator had in evoking the feel of the book.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Logan's Run?

There were many, but I particularly liked the way that the story opened.

What about Oliver Wyman’s performance did you like?

His feeling for the characters, and his characterisations.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Yep

Any additional comments?

Nope

3 of 5 people found this review helpful

Farmer in the Sky

By:
Robert A. Heinlein

Narrated by:
Nick Podehl

Length: 6 hrs and 30 mins

Unabridged

Overall

4.5 out of 5 stars
447

Performance

4.5 out of 5 stars
415

Story

4.5 out of 5 stars
416

Farmer In The Sky is a 1953 science fiction novel by Robert A. Heinlein about a teenage boy who emigrates with his family to Jupiter's moon Ganymede, which is in the process of being terraformed. A condensed version of the novel was published in serial form in 1950 in Boys' Life magazine (August, September, October, November), under the title "Satellite Scout".

Back to the future.

Competent telling of a good story.

Overall

4 out of 5 stars

Performance

4 out of 5 stars

Story

4 out of 5 stars

Reviewed: 06-15-12

The story stands on its own merits; it is one of his better juveniles, but not his best. As usual, he has interesting characters and makes you think about the science and engineering of what is going on in a natural way, without detracting from the entertaining and compelling characters, and the solid plot. The narrator did a nice job, and let the story roll along without being melodramatic. He also did a nice job of giving the characters unique voices.

This superlative collection of futuristic tales explores ground-breaking supernatural themes from the founding heroes of the science fiction genre. The short story form is perfect for capturing the atmospheric tension of these legendary stories.

Some material I hadn't seen before

I particularly liked Del Rey, Leiber, Schmitz (the first material I had read by him), Dick and Herbert.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Thuvia, Maid of Mars

By:
Edgar Rice Burroughs

Narrated by:
John Bolen

Length: 4 hrs and 43 mins

Unabridged

Overall

4 out of 5 stars
133

Performance

3.5 out of 5 stars
86

Story

4 out of 5 stars
86

Mars has become divided by love. Not one, but two princes and a Jeddak are vying for the love of Thuvia of Ptarth. When she is mysteriously kidnapped, treachery threatens to throw Barsoom into bloody war. Now Cathoris must follow in the footsteps of his father, John Carter, and overcome phantom armies, dangerous spies and savage beasts as he attempts to save his true love and reunite Mars.

Fake accent and wooden performance

I've read the novel before, and it is classic Burroughs. Not his best but not his worst by any means. The main problem I had with this audiobook was the narration.

There were two problems. First, the narrator used some sort of Eastern European accent for all the Martian dialogue, and a neutral American accent otherwise. This grated on me and detracted from the content of what was being spoken, since the accent was being pushed so much that the dialogue felt unnatural. Second, there was little feeling or emotion being expressed in the dialogue. I felt that the narrator didn't understand the feelings of the charactors nor the author's intent, and as a result it was difficult for me to engage with the characters or the story. It was like listening to someone reading a laundry list.

For me either aspect was a killer. I would not recommend this rendition.